Is College Necessary?

I read an article online recently that said, "Learning on College Campuses found that after two years of college, 45% of students learned little to nothing. After four years, 36% of students learned almost nothing." These statistics are quite alarming making one to wonder is it even worth it to attend college?

I believe that going to college certainly is NOT necessary to become successful because there have been people who have gone on to do great things with just a high school degree. But in today's world having that college degree does make it easier for a person to get a job. The workplace is getting a lot more competitive and with a college degree a person would stand out from other applicants who may not have one. Simply put it having a college degree would increase the possibility of getting a job. College may also seem expensive because the tuition is increasing yearly, but having a degree after you graduate from college may provide you with a better salary then someone without a degree; so it will be possible to pay off loans.

Also, being in college may not only be for academic reasons, but it can be for social as well. Many college students are learning to network as they chat with friends or other students. This networking can be highly beneficial for them in the future.

Back to the statistics. It is natural for a person to forget some of the things that they learned if they are not constantly reinforcing their memory of that certain topic or subject. For example if a person is nurse, and they took a class in art history in college to fulfill an elective; at what time during their profession as a nurse will they have to incorporate music? I understand that students should learn some things that are outside of their field of study. But there is a massive amount of time spent learning subjects that may not pertain to our future occupation. Instead we could have used that time and learned more things about our profession.